Defence
WORLD
East African Rift: Europe’s New Fallout With Military Rulers
Great Lakes' pushback against Western Europe sounds familiar to anyone watching the Sahel where military regimes have redrawn the rules of engagement.
EUROPE
Words Have Meaning: EU Language Politics Blocks Defence Budget
Spain’s NATO defense budget is stalled as EU partners reject Catalan language recognition, linking security to linguistic politics.
EUROPE
Sovereignty by Arms: EU-France Defence Clash
As Europe rushes to arm itself, Paris clings to the golden key of weapons oversight, playing a high-stakes chess game with EU allies over who controls the guns.
EXCLUSIVE
Two Arteries, One Lifeline:Â Somaliland and Taiwan Talk Maritime Cooperation
Somaliland and Taiwan deepen ties amid Chinese pressure, defending sovereignty and maritime trade routes from Red Sea to East Asia.
BUSINESS
Re-Alignment in the Red Sea: Russia & Iran
Russia and Iran recalibrate influence from Syria to Sudan, leveraging Red Sea conflicts and deepening military ties in shifting alliances.
Popular
Anti-Bardella Performative Resistance Falls Short
Culinary protests splatter and legal verdicts land; Jordan Bardella rides economic fatigue to dismantle the cordon sanitaire shielding the French presidency.
Meloni in Manama: The Sakhir Declaration and Gulf Security
Missiles over Doha have turned the Sakhir Declaration from standard diplomacy into a survival blueprint, pushing the Gulf toward self-reliance and Europe ties.
The Rome-Moscow Connection: How Italy and Kyrgyzstan are Keeping Russian Trade Alive
While Europe builds a wall of sanctions against Russia, Italy has found a backdoor, shipping goods through the mountains to Kyrgyzstan.
EU-US Trade Talks: Price of Sovereignty on the Factory Floor
Brussels rejects trading digital sovereignty for tariff relief, leaving European steel workers to bear the heavy cost of a deepening transatlantic deadlock.
The Pope’s Turkey Visit: Eastern Mediterranean as Christianity’s Foundation
Pope Leo XIV's first papal journey to Turkey from 27-30 November 2025 placed the eastern Mediterranean once again at the centre of Catholic imagination, inviting Europe to reconsider how geography shaped its tradition.


